Dexter fans are nothing if not dedicated, sticking with the show through thickâ€¦and thin (season 6, anyone?). We’ve been through a LOT. On the crest of its last season on air, Showtime’s Dexter made its final San Diego Comic-Con appearance Thursday evening in Hall H.

The panelists included series star/executive producer Michael C. Hall, and past and present co-stars Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, Aimee Garcia, Desmond Harrington, Yvonne Strahovski, Lauren Velez, Eric King, and Julie Benz. Also appearing were executive producers John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, Clyde Phillips and Manny Coto. Ralph Garman moderated. He mentioned that the complete series will be available on Blu-Ray November 5th, in a box that resembles Dexter Morgan’s blood slide collection case. This announcement was followed by a retrospective look at Dexter Morgan’s most famous kills.

Does anyone happen to have a glass of bourbon for me? Because I am pretty sure I need it after sitting through Skyline. This film is a terrible movie; I think most people would prefer to participate in an emetophilia convention. No, I mean it. It is truly the most insufferable and cringe-inducing movie viewing experiences I have ever endured.

The science fiction movie is a disaster (pardon the pun) from start to finish, that it is ruined even further by acting that will make you facepalm yourself so much it will leave marks. The writing and direction is poorly executed, with insufficient substance or meaning to back itself up, and as a result, the only redeeming aspect of the movie are the special effects and musical score.

What drew me to the Skyline panel today at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con was curiosity out of the sheer lack of information about this film beforehand. Press had been notoriously tight-lipped on it up until now, which may have been an (effective, in my case) hype-building tactic.

The rough gist of the film is it’s an attempt to create a large-scale alien invasion film on a completely independent budget. From the footage I saw, which included many generic shots of glowing lights descending upon the oft-abused Los Angeles, the execution is similar to Cloverfield or the upcoming Battle: Los Angeles (which the Strouse Brothers’ FX house Hydraulx is also producing effects for).

Dexter is a show that works beyond all the expected ways it could be anticipated to work. The first season involved Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall, a serial killer who works forensics on the Miami Police Department. His targets are criminals and people who use the normal parameters of the law to their own ends instead of justice. In an unfair world, Dexter acts as an equalizer.

But, more than that, it’s about a man, admittedly dead to the world, fumbling and futzing his way towards humanity and a soul. For someone like Dexter, who freely admits that he has no emotions, he sure does develop a lot of attachments. To his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) and her two kids; To his sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter), who’s also a cop and has no luck with romance. Through his interactions with others he finds out, much to both his joy and dismay, that he was human all along. Kind of like The Wizard of Oz in Dante’s ring of murderers.

And this was all in the first season. Here we are with the second season, now on DVD, and I think it’s better than the first. Instead of trying to capture lightning in a bottle yet again, it’s a continuation of the central themes and a continuing evolution of Dexter as a character.